Storage racks



1 Nov- 3, 1959 T. FRANCAV'ILLO 2,911,107

STORAGE RACKS Filed Sept. 25, 1956 I8 (/80, ere.)

5 INVENTOR THOMAS FRANCAVILLO ATTORNEY States 1 Patent 1 STORAGE 'Ifhbrrias'l railc'avillo, Vestal, NY. Application September 25,1956, Serial No. 611,993 i 4 ar 6. i i-1 invention relates to improvements in storage racks and more particularly to an improved rotary-reel type of rack for storing small articles such as nails, bolts,

nuts, screws andthe like, as well as generally cylindrical objects such as condiment holders, spools,'etc., in orderly arrayr:

-Anximportant bbjective of the invention is th'e provision of a rotary-reel type rack for supporting 'a plurality of storage receptacles such as cups or jars serving as con-:-

in a rotary-reel type storage rack as aforesaid, of a receptacle. holding bar of simple yethighly effective con-.

struction.

Still another object'of the invention is the provision. of a novel mounting of the. receptacle, holding bars as employed-in a rotary-reel type receptacle rack or holder as aforesaid, in end members of the rack, which insures.

that the bars maintain the receptacles vertical both during rotation of the rack and When it is at rest.

Yet a further object of the invention is the provisionof a rotary-reel type storage rack-'for mounting a plurality of cups or jars serving as storage receptacles for a multiplicityof small articles and for disposing said cups or receptacles in orderly array in rows extending between preferably disc-likeend members, characterized in that the receptacleholding bars are free to turn about their own axes under the weight of the articles contained therein as the reel is rotated, to the end that the receptacles are always maintained vertical.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an improved rotary-reel type storage-rack for storing a multiplicity of small articles suchas nails, nuts, bolts, screws, and the like in receptacles according to type and size of article, whereby different articles and diiferent sized articles may be kept separate from one another while at the same time said articles are readily accessible for use.

MB PPWF bxiashiq iaatha r e t e from transparent material; sgch as glass or clear plastic, the articles ta .4 ther n. are. readilrwsifle; an he ir.

onsa ne d d may be.facilitatedtoahigh degree."

iTbe almve andiother objects :and advantages of a storage frack accdrding tothe present invention will appear froiii theffollowing detailed description thereof, in which reference i's-h ad to the accompanying drawing illustrating a jjarefer 'reti physica-l embodiment thereof wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective yiewofrnyfjimproved storage raekphowing the general arrangement of the parts making up same," and which further illustrates the loose journalice ing of the ends of the receptacle holding the" end members of the-rack;

" Fig. 2 is an end view illustrating-one of the many pos-" sible ways in which a storage rack as shown in Fig. 1

may be mounted for use;

Fig. 3 is a section taken alongline 3-3 of Fig. 1*

illustrating a preferred means for holding the rotary reel member of'the rack in a desired angular position;

Fig; 4 is an enlarged partial view of one of the receptacle' holding bars as employed in the rack shown in- Fig. 1; and 1 Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but illustrating a modi- 'fied form of receptacle holding bar according to the invention- 1 Referring to the drawings, my improved rotary-reel type storage rack illustratively comprises a horizontal shaft 10 whose ends are journaled in the spaced side arms of a 'U-frarne 11. Inwardly of its journaled ends,? the shaft 10 fixedlymounts two reel end-members 12 and 13, preferably circular in shape and-having appreciable di-' ameter. The end members are aflixed to said shaft and accordingly. they turn in unison In addition to mounting the shaft 10, the U-framell provides a convenient means for carrying the rack about and for attaching the rack toa wall asby screwing or nailing it thereto as indicated in Fig. 2.. Also, the U-frame, and hence the rack, may be supported on legs (not shown) attaching to the spaced. side arms of theframe, whereby the'rack may be set up on a work bench, for example; or it may be hung from' the ceiling by means of brackets (not shown) also at.- taching 'to the frame side arms.

lllustratively, theaforesaid basic-reel 'structurepro- I ,vides a support for a plurality of open-top cups or jars generally designated 15 which are closed by caps 16, said cups or ja'rs serving as receptacles for a multiplicity of 3 small articles or objects to be stored, such as nails, bolts,'

nuts, etc; Preferably, at least the cup bodies are formed of transparent material such as glass or clear plastic, so that their contents are readily visible. To dispose the aforesaid cups or jars in an orderly array, the rack herein provides for their arrangement in a plurality of rows, six? by way of i example, by means of a plurality of bars 18,-

18a, etc., hereinafter for convenience termed ring bars, which extend longitudinally between the end members 12, 13 and are supported thereby.

As best seen in Figs. 1 and 4,. the ring bars-1 8, 18a,

etc. are preferably fashioned from an appropriate length of heavy rod stock, which is coiled or looped on. itself at evenly spaced intervals along its length so as to provide a v plurality (six being shown) of'substantially' circular socket-forming rings 19. It willbe observed that the rings have internal diameter slightly smaller than the larger upper-end diameter of the cups, 15, whereby when:

said cups are. inserted into the rings, they hang from the ring bars and preferablyproject a greater distance downwardly through said rings than upwardly-thereof. It

will also be noted that said rings 19 are disposed sym-e metrically to the sides of the longitudinal center line of the rod or bar from which they are fashioned, such'fbeing achieved .by;so bending the rod that in progressing from one ring to the next adjacent ring, the connecting portionof the rod crosses the r od center line. Accordingly, the weight of the-articles contained in the cups 15 held by a ring bar is distributed equally to the sidesvof the ring-bar center line 1 According to a further feature. ofthe invention, the

ends-loathe ring bars 18, 18a,=e tc., and which of course extend 'on the longitudinal centerjlines of said ringbars arelloosely'journaledin the end-discs or-members 12, 13,

so that said bars may turn on their own axesrelatively .of said end members. Such is simply achievedby making I the holes 20 in the" end members, into which the ring Patented-Nov. 3, 1959 open side thereof.

bars extend, over-size with respect to the diameter of said ring bars. Thus, although. the ends of the ring bars are supported and'have bearing on the edges of the end member holes 20 in Which'they are received, the oversizing of said holes enables the rods to turn freely with respect to the end members, and thus relatively to said endmembers as the latter are turned to bring any selected row of jars 15 to the front.

The aforesaid loose journaling of the ring bars in endmembers 12, 13, 'is made use of as follows: When the articles to be stored. are placed in the cups or '22s 15, the centers of gravity of said cups are disposed. well below the horizontal line of the ring bars. In practical effect, this means that the weight of the articles stored in the cups tends to hold the cups vertical as the reel structure is turned. Accordingly, as the reel structure, of course including the end members, is bodily turned on the axis of shaft to bring any selected row of cups to the front, all of the cups maintain their vertical disposition, and this is true also when the reel structure is at rest.

Consequent to the unequal loading of the .cups or jars or to the fact that, cups in one row carry weightier articles than the cups in .the diametrically opposite row,

for example, it may happen that the reel structure will. not hold to the position to which it is rotated, unless restrained against movement'out of said position. To effect thisrestraint I provide means for positively holding the reel in any angular position to which it is turned, such by reference to Fig. 3 comprising a spring detent 24 extending in offset relation'from a carrier plate 25 secured to the inner face-of an arm of the main frame 11 near its' positions are relatedv in number and positioning to the;

ring barslS, 180, etc. That is to say, the spring detent 24 will move into any notch 27 presented to it, thereby to restrain the reel structure against unintentional rotation, with the notches 27 being so located as always to stop the reel in positions in which one row of cups 15 will invariably be disposed to the front of the reel and hence in a readily accessible position.

- Although designed primarily for the storage in orderly array of bolts, nuts, and similar articles placed loosely or in bulk in cups or jars, a rack according to the invention may instead be employed to store any elongate objects or articles, such as condiment holders, spools, etc., capable of being hung from a ring bar corresponding to the ring bars 18, 18a, etc. It is also possible within the purview of the present invention, to employ modified ring bars 28 as shown in Fig. 5, according to which the cup or article holding rings, rather than being full circular so as to define'correspondingly full circular cup or jar sockets, are instead arcs of a circle not greatly exceeding 180. By appropriately sizing these part-circular recesses 29 to the diameter of the articles or objects to be stored, the latter; may be hung from and preferably also resiliently gripped by the bars, simply by pressing the same into the part-circular recesses 29 through the Without further analysis, it willbe seen that a storage rack as described and illustrated satisfies the objectives of the invention as explained in the foregoing. When transparent material, all of the stored articles are readily visible thereby facilitating selection as required. It will moreover be seen that without material modification a rack as described may also be employed to store various other articles or objects having generally cylindrical shape, such as condiment holders, spools of thread, and the like. This is to say that the rack according to the invention may be used to good advantage not only as an adjunct to a workbench but also in the kitchen or sewing room of the home, for example.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description orshown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a rack of the character described, a rotary-reel type structure mounted to turn on a horizontal axis including spaced end members interconnected so as to ro tate in unison, a plurality of ring bars extending between said end members, the ends of said ring bars being loosely journaled in said'end members, said ring bars each coin-- prising asingle length of rigid rod stock having a plurality 1 of 360'loops at spaced intervals'alongits length adapted to form substantially circular holding rings for generally cylindrical articles, the ring-bar ends being disposed on, and the loops being disposed symmetrically to opposite sides of, the center line of each said ring bar whereby said bars are balanced and tend to maintain horizontal position.

2. A storage rack substantially as set forth in claim 1, wherein the ring-bar portions extending between said loops incline from one side to the other of said center line,

used for the storage of small articles such as nails, nuts,

bolts, screws, etc., it provides a very effective means of maintaining a supply of such articles separated according to size, type, etc. Manifestly, a rack as described also makes the whole range of articles stored thereby con- -venient of access and it also permits the articles to be disposed in orderly array, that is, articles of one" type other row, etc. By fashioning the cups and jars 15 from may be stored in one row, articles of another type in anwhereby the loops extend alternately to opposite sides of said center line.

3. A storage rack substantially as set forth in claim 1, wherein the end members are provided with pairs of aligned holes which areslightly oversize in relation to the diameter of the ring bars, and the ends of said ring bars project into and through said holes thereby to elfect loose journaling of the ring bars as aforesaid.

4. In a storage rack of the character described, a horizontally disposed U-shaped frame member, a shaft having its ends journaled in the side arms of said frame member,

circular end members afiixed to said shaft adjacent the ends thereof and inwardly of the frame side arms, said end members and shaft constituting a rotating reel struc- -ture, a plurality of circumferentially spaced bars extend-' ing between the end members with their ends extending into oversize holes provided therefor in said end members whereby the bars are journaled therein for rotation about,

their individual axes independently of the rotation of the 1 reel structure, said bars each having a plurality of 360 loops at spaced intervals along its length adapted to form holding rings for receiving and supporting generally cylindrical articles, the ends of each bar being disposed on, and the loops being disposed symmetrically to opposite sides of, the bar center line whereby said ring bars are balanced and tend to maintain horizontal position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 38,817 Malchow Sept. 17, 1907 305,437 Dignarn Sept. 23, 1884 379,055 Dancyger Mar. 6, 1888 828,926 Clare Aug. 21, 1906- 990,749 Kretzschmar Apr. 25, 1911 1,501,633 Tyler July 15, 1924 1,974,272 Heineman Sept. 18, 1934- 2,237,361 Poynter Apr. 8, 1941.. 2,776,756 Allan Jan. 8, 1957-,

Y FOREIGN PATENTS f 319,867 Italy July 23,1934 I 

